What Banks Do When a Customer Dies With No Next of Kin

Most banks collect next of kin once, at account opening, and never ask again. People move, change numbers and lose touch. Some never name anyone. When the customer dies, the bank has nobody to call, and often does not know the customer has died at all.

• If a beneficiary is named. A payable-on-death designation lets the account pass to the named person without the court process.
• If there is no beneficiary and no will. State law decides who inherits, usually spouse first, then children, parents, siblings and grandparents. The order varies by state.
• If no heir is found. The assets can go to the state.
• If nobody claims the account. After many years of inactivity, sometimes around ten, the bank may report it to the state as abandoned property. Some states publish lists of these funds.
• How the bank learns of a death. Usually family or friends. The bank may also check obituaries or receive a notice from the Social Security Administration.

• Next of kin is not an heir. The person named on the bank form is a contact. Daily Trust reports that Nigeria has no recognised payable-on-death authorisation that gives an estate automatic access without probate.
• Court documents come first. Banks ask for a letter of probate if there was a will, or letters of administration if there was not, before they release funds.
• The result is unclaimed money. A ThisDay editorial in June 2024 estimated about ₦1.3 trillion in unclaimed funds in commercial banks and argued that families without money for lawyers are hit hardest. It called for a law requiring banks to offer a pay-on-death form and to contact named beneficiaries before or when an account goes dormant.
• Dormancy follows. Accounts of deceased customers often become dormant, and the family then has to deal with both the dormancy and the probate process.

1. Record next of kin with consent and keep the record current.
2. Watch for inactivity. A customer who stops logging in or transacting is a signal long before the account is formally dormant.
3. Check deceased records where reliable data exists, as US tools built on the Death Master File do.
4. Reach the people named through a documented, reviewed process, and keep an audit trail.
5. Tell customers with no next of kin what will happen to their account, and invite them to name someone.

Tools for these steps are compared in our guide to next of kin and inactivity APIs. Entrustt covers the register and the inactivity check. For individuals, see best digital legacy platforms.